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New funding deal unveiled for carers

10/06/2008

A new £225 million deal has been unveiled today by the government to help the six million carers in the UK.

Nearly half of this number provides more than 20 hours of care a week and over a million provide more than 50 hours care per week.

The demand for care is expected to rise in the future, with the number of people over 85 - those most in need of care - rising by over 50 per cent in the next ten years.

Extra investment of £150 million will be spent on expanding short breaks for people looking after friends or family members, doubling the amount of respite care available over two years.

A further £38 million will go towards supporting carers to enter or re-enter the job market and £6 million is to improve support for young carers.

And annual health checks will be piloted to ensure that carers themselves stay mentally and physically well.

Health minister Ivan Lewis also announced that carers will be given greater choice and control over their lives by increased use of direct payments.

He described today's announcement as "historic" and said it is "the beginning of a ten-year programme to give carers the recognition and status they deserve".

"In a society where an increasing number of us are caring for ageing parents or sick and disabled relatives, it is right that we recognise carers are at the heart of 21st century families and communities," Mr Lewis added.

"In the next decade elder care will be the new childcare and it is essential our policies properly meet the scale of the challenge."

Carers UK welcomed the announcement, describing it as a "significant step forward for carers", but warned that it leaves "important questions unanswered".

Imelda Redmond, the charity's chief executive, said: "We welcome the promise of a full review of carers' benefits.

"We are disappointed that the government has been unable to offer immediate financial help for the hundreds of thousands of carers who rely on benefits and many carers will be frustrated that they will have to wait again for the financial help they desperately need.

"We will be asking the government to begin the review immediately."